Versatile fields set for county tourneys

Sunday

Jul 13, 2014 at 10:45 PM

Minus the emergence of a runaway champion in either event, the series of closing holes at Woodfin Ridge figure to play a huge role in deciding the women’s and men’s senior county champions with both tournaments teeing off Monday.

By ERIC BOYNTONeric.boynton@shj.com

Minus the emergence of a runaway champion in either event, the series of closing holes at Woodfin Ridge figure to play a huge role in deciding the women’s and men’s senior county champions with both tournaments teeing off Monday.It’s a difficult annual task no matter the host venue for organizers and course superintendents to provide a layout that’s a stern enough test to truly determine the area’s best player while keeping the difficulty-factor within a range that doesn’t discourage the wide spectrum of abilities that compete each year.The final five holes feature two par 5s, an extremely difficult par 3 that’s tiered both at the tee-box and green, and a pair of par 4s that force a straight drive with trouble lurking down both sides. Those at the top of either leaderboard will certainly have to prove their mettle down the stretch to emerge with victory.“Our thing is that we want it to be a fair test of golf and we want everybody to have a good time and be able to enjoy themselves,” Woodfin Ridge general manager John Combs said. “We will not be tucking pins away and putting tee-markers way back, things of that nature. It will be a straightforward golf course with a very fair setup. What we usually do is have six easy pin placements, six medium, and six that are more medium to difficult and that way the players are challenged, but not absolutely beat up.“Our course superintendent, Lance Allen, just does a fantastic job with it and the golf course really is in great shape.”The layout has the capability of playing as long as 7,200 yard from the back championship tees, so there’s plenty of room to maneuver for the two 36-hole women’s and senior men’s events. The senior men will play from roughly 5,800 yards, the women and super-seniors from 5,400 yards, and there will be a separate women’s division that will play from 5,100.Combs predicts No. 15, “will be a turning-point, that’s a tough little par-3.” The hole features multiple options for set-up with separate layered tee-boxes looking directly at and over a large pond. The three-tiered, undulating green is guarded by bunkers in the center and on the right while the pond extends down the left side. Organizers could be plenty mischievous in challenging players in a myriad of ways, but they don’t plan on going over-the-top.“We won’t trick any holes up,” Combs said. “On the 15th hole we’ll use two different sets of tees and we could make that a difficult a hole, but we won’t make it that hard. It will be challenging, but it’s already that way without having to tuck a pin somewhere or move a tee-marker or whatever.”Nos. 16 and 17 are both par 4s that, while not overly long, will force competitors to be accurate off the tee, even inducing some players to leave the driver in the bag. The 16th has a rather tight out-of-bounds on the left and a severely-sloping fairway that can lead balls too far to the right into woods. The 17th has out-of-bounds down both sides.“If you hit it crooked you’re in trouble, as you are on most golf courses, but you’ve really got to hit it straight coming down the home-stretch,” Combs said.Having a pair of par 5s coming home (at Nos. 14 and 18) allows for plenty of flexibility in setting up the holes. Both measure roughly 470 yards that could be tinkered with to increase a desire to go for the greens in two, especially on the final hole where a contending player could feel forced to undergo a gut-check with the tournament on the line.“No. 18 will be the hole where we’ll try and make it play a little bit easier so that there’s the risk-reward factor,” Combs said. “If you’re willing to risk it, you might get rewarded.”

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